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The Aiken Trilogy #3
Aiken In Check: A Spy Game Novel
EDITOR'S PICK - Publishers Weekly Booklife
5/5 STARS - Foreword Clarion Reviews
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Midwest Book Review
"Evoke[s] the best of spy scribes, such as the moral ambiguities of John le Carré, the technical precision of Tom Clancy, and the violent impact of Robert Ludlum. However, Beckner puts his own spin on these genre staples, elucidating, illuminating, and bringing on-point insights into play, as when he spells out what the intelligence game is really all about..." - The US Review of Books
It's not how you play the GAME... It's how the game plays YOU.
Aiken in Check (Aiken Trilogy, Book 3) finds the ill-starred but undimmed CIA lawyer Russell Aiken a defector to Cuba trapped in a battle of wits with Havana spymasters over the fate of female CIA agent Nina Estrada, kidnapped by Cuban agents on a mole hunt for the CIA's top spy in Fidel Castro's secret service.
In this second sequel to the Robert Redford/Brad Pitt #1 hit movie Spy Game, Aiken must once more navigate the thorny father-son dynamic of Nathan Muir and Tom Bishop to guide them to a place of peace while at the same time effect the rescue of the woman who is his greatest romance and the love of his life-all in a single night without leaving the hotel room of his interrogation.
Bursting with Aiken's acerbic and absurdist wit, Aiken in Check is a love letter confession, wrapped in the haunting of the three men's past, inside of a Christmas deadly, over the fate of Christmas's yet to come.
5/5 STARS - Foreword Clarion Reviews
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Midwest Book Review
"Evoke[s] the best of spy scribes, such as the moral ambiguities of John le Carré, the technical precision of Tom Clancy, and the violent impact of Robert Ludlum. However, Beckner puts his own spin on these genre staples, elucidating, illuminating, and bringing on-point insights into play, as when he spells out what the intelligence game is really all about..." - The US Review of Books
It's not how you play the GAME... It's how the game plays YOU.
Aiken in Check (Aiken Trilogy, Book 3) finds the ill-starred but undimmed CIA lawyer Russell Aiken a defector to Cuba trapped in a battle of wits with Havana spymasters over the fate of female CIA agent Nina Estrada, kidnapped by Cuban agents on a mole hunt for the CIA's top spy in Fidel Castro's secret service.
In this second sequel to the Robert Redford/Brad Pitt #1 hit movie Spy Game, Aiken must once more navigate the thorny father-son dynamic of Nathan Muir and Tom Bishop to guide them to a place of peace while at the same time effect the rescue of the woman who is his greatest romance and the love of his life-all in a single night without leaving the hotel room of his interrogation.
Bursting with Aiken's acerbic and absurdist wit, Aiken in Check is a love letter confession, wrapped in the haunting of the three men's past, inside of a Christmas deadly, over the fate of Christmas's yet to come.
493 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2022
6 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 13, 2022
This review is for The Aiken Trilogy #1-3:
An excellent spy series. Each book is engaging, and well-written overall. The author created fully formed characters that are interesting to watch. I didn't always enjoy the conversations, but the suspense and strong writing kept me going. Beckner has found a way to write to his strengths.
I really appreciate the free ARCs for review!!
An excellent spy series. Each book is engaging, and well-written overall. The author created fully formed characters that are interesting to watch. I didn't always enjoy the conversations, but the suspense and strong writing kept me going. Beckner has found a way to write to his strengths.
I really appreciate the free ARCs for review!!
April 24, 2023
Intriguing, complex, funny, immersive, deadly. The Game is about to end...
A train leaves the station; where will it end up? In Michael Frost Beckner’s mind-bending, surprising world, you can never be sure until the end.
"Aiken in Check" is the last of Beckner’s Spy Game trilogy and what a ride it has been! A mix of espionage, murder, and family intrigue with enough betrayal and deception to make the characters and the readers wonder where they are going and from whence they came. it is an Alice In Spyland adventure that will have your attention from the first page to the last.
Imagine James Bond waking up on Christmas Eve to find the ghost of Double-O Nine sitting on his bed… and being told there are three spirits waiting to show him his past, present, and future.
Not content to use old tradecraft, Aiken employs time itself to manipulate and confuse his enemy. At breakneck speed and with intricate storytelling, the author teases us in a world where wormholes abound and intrigue pervades.
It is a unique, humorous, and suspenseful tale where Russell Aiken must bet everything to win a final, deadly game where he no one is to be trusted — even himself.
A train leaves the station; where will it end up? In Michael Frost Beckner’s mind-bending, surprising world, you can never be sure until the end.
"Aiken in Check" is the last of Beckner’s Spy Game trilogy and what a ride it has been! A mix of espionage, murder, and family intrigue with enough betrayal and deception to make the characters and the readers wonder where they are going and from whence they came. it is an Alice In Spyland adventure that will have your attention from the first page to the last.
Imagine James Bond waking up on Christmas Eve to find the ghost of Double-O Nine sitting on his bed… and being told there are three spirits waiting to show him his past, present, and future.
Not content to use old tradecraft, Aiken employs time itself to manipulate and confuse his enemy. At breakneck speed and with intricate storytelling, the author teases us in a world where wormholes abound and intrigue pervades.
It is a unique, humorous, and suspenseful tale where Russell Aiken must bet everything to win a final, deadly game where he no one is to be trusted — even himself.
January 9, 2024
The third and final book in Beckner’s Spy Game trilogy sees Aiken defecting to Cuba as he attempts to free the love of his life, Nina Estrada from Cuban Intelligence. Aiken’s trademark stream-of-consciousness musings on his life, Muir and Bishop, the CIA, quantum physics, time, and everything in between, are ever present and lend the novel an absurdist, Borges-like touch. The descriptions of Cuba are excellent and Beckner’s knowledge of the world of espionage shines through with authenticity. Those who have seen the movie SPY GAME will recognise some of the film’s scenes melded into the plot, furthering Muir’s and Aiken’s backstory, linking past events to what is unfolding in the present. The dialogue between Aiken and Nina is superb, adding spice and dry humour to the mix, enhancing the already wonderful character development, each with their own individual quirks. Overall, a fitting end to the trilogy and, combined with the movie, these novels bring a unique voice to the spy novel literary world.
July 11, 2025
"Aiken in Check" is a wild ride and a fitting conclusion to Michael Frost Beckner's fine trilogy of Spy Game novels. It's long, has lots of characters, changes time frames, is chock full of lies, deceit, misinformation, and unsavory characters, and is narrated by a guy who had a brain tumor removed and suffers from epilepsy, but if you're a Spy Game aficionado and have read the first two in the trilogy, this is a must-read. Character development, dialogue, spy craft, and writing are all off-the-charts and the author's ability to tie all of the plot threads together to craft a solid conclusion to this series is exemplary.
August 8, 2023
This is the third book of a trilogy and espionage is the name of the game. I am a fan of this genre; however, I found this book to be a little muddled.......lots of characters for the sake of lots of characters. To be candid, I did not read the first two books, and that my color my opinion.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews